Cutlery receptacle tray



NW' 13952 H. c. GEssLER CUTLERY RECEPTACLE TRAY Filed Nov. 22, 1949 R. Y. m W. w m s m mm G o. W,

WY HB Patente Nov. 6, 1951 CUTLERY'RECEPTACLE TRAY Harry C..i Gessler,.Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Medco Silver Co. Inc., a corporation of New v Yorkv Application November 22, 1949, Serial No. 128,747V

This invention relates to receptacles -for cutlery or tableware, and more particularly is directed to improved storage receptacle trays for knives, forks and spoons andthe like utensils in a neat, attractive and compact arrangement readily accessible for selective removal as required.

Among the objects of the invention is to generally improve devices of the character described, which shall preferably be made as a one-piece molded structure, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture yet form a neat and attractive appearing. tray or box for displaying and storingv a wide variety of table fiatware, which shall be lightweight yet adapted to withstand rough usage, which shall have a capacity for readily storing different shapes and sizes of flatware in a harmonious arrangement, which shall permit quick, convenient removal of the units individually or in a selected number,

and which shall be practical and efi'icient to a high degree in use.

The subject matter of this application is a continuation in part of Vmy copending application Ser. No. 84,142, filed March 29, 1942, now abandoned.

Other objects of the invention Will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists of features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter disclosed, the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims following.

In the accompanying drawing in which one embodiment of the invention is shown:

Figs. 1 and 2 are perspective Views of a cutlery tray constructed to embody the invention showing top and bottom sides, respectively.

Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views taken on lines 3-3 and 4-4 in Fig. 1 ,showing in broken lines articles of flatware in nested and upstanding supported position in compartment of the tray, and i Fig. 5 is a fragmentary 'cross-sectional view of a fragmentary portion of the tray taken on line 5-5 in Fig. 1 showing Cradle formations for space supporting the knife handles in la fan arrangement. 4 u i Referring in detailto thedrawing, IO denotes a cutlery box receptacle .tray constructed to embody the invention preferabl molded of colored, opaque, transparent or trans'lucent plastic material such as polystyrene, cellulose acetate or nylon as a one-piece structure having a top -4 olaimsU (cl. szos- 75) wall ll normally lyingin a horizontally disposal plane formed integrally with peripherally ,down turned skirting-flange wall |2 vertically disposed With relation to said wall'll and having asetback rabbetiportion- |2a extending adjacenl .the levell of said top Walll l I. VSaidwall I 2 may have a free edge |2bV thereof lying substantially, ina plane parallel to that of top Wall ll, interme-A diate portions thereof being recessed at ,l2c1to form corner legs |2d'to serve as a base fortray IO when placed on a horizontal supportingsurf face S, such as a table top or shelf as, .is clear from Figs.3and 4. i i Also integrallyA formed to extend down, that is, depressed from-the -plane of horizontalwalLl-J. are a plurality of spaced elongated sunken com+.- partments, stalls, or Wells, asshown in,Figs. 1, 3 and 4,at l3, Ill, |5 and |6. V. Sunken compartment, stall or well l3 maybe sized and shaped-to'neatly receive a stack of nested medium-or soup spoons M, well .H to ,receive a stack of nested teaspoons T, well 15a stackA of nested forks F, and spaced apart Wells 16 may Abe formed-to each have fitted thereina plurality of knives K standing onedge disposed in side by side fanned relation, one of eachA of the utensils M, T, F and K being shown in broken lines in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5 to represent each stack and one of the knives, respectively. As seen in Fig. 2 each .bottom side l3a,.,l4a and [5a of Wells [3, [4 and |5, respectively, may be formed in contour to accommodate curvaf tures or offsets so that bottom units of each of the various stacks rest on said respective bottom sides, as is clear from Figs. 3 and 4. As is clear from Fig. 1, the spaced compartments or stalls |3, M, |5 and ,|6 may be ar ranged in a neat compact pattern with the hanf dle portion receiving `ends thereof terminating in a direction toward a front side lfla ofthe tray IO and the instrument receiving ends of said compartments such as, bowl of the spoons M and T, tines of forks F and .blades of knives K, respectively, terminating toward a rear side Ib, compartments |3, |4 and |5 for nesting units M, T and F being arranged in a central portion of the tray flanked by compartments |6. One feature of the invention is to provide a simple yet attractive compartment tray forieither storing or displaying a complete set of table fiatl Ware and is particularly constructed for accom-l modating knives having relatively thick'ha'ndles in a neat, attractivearrangement in a predeter mined minimum space. To this end, said compartments or stalls j| 3 may each be at blade ends thereof constructed with a plurality of uniformly sized and shaped open ended slits I'I formed to extend down from the plane of top wall and having right angular depth extensions l'la in normally vertical extending end wall |6b of said compartments IG. Said extensions I'la may project a distance below the plane of top ,wall ll for supporting blades of knives K in spaced aligned upright, position at a uniform level on end wall edges llb, each slit l1 preferably being of a width slightly greater than that of said knife blades.

Likewise, the handles of knives K are supported as a group, each on a ledgel Nic spaced below the level of the plane of top wall ll, said ledges having cradles ld formed therein for the individual fanned out spacing of the handles of each group of knives K.

Bottom sides 16a of compartments IE may reach down beyond the"level of wall edge l1b and cradles lBd to provide storage space of additional flat-Ware pieces, as for example, butter knives, oyster forks and the like (not shown) and not otherwise provided for. w

As seen in Figs. 1 and 2, tray l may be formed with transverse passageway |8 interconnecting said compartments reaching down from the plane of top wall I l to the level of compartment bottom sides |3a, Ha, 15a and 16a to facilitate selective removal of nested spoons Mand T, forks F, from compartment |3, H and |5 and knives K from stalls |6.'.

By constructing tray IO' as described above and shown in the drawings, top wall peripheral side wall |2 and the walls of compartments 13, H, |5 and l6 and passageway l8 can be made of uniform minimum thickness yet exceedingly rugged to withstand rough handling and use since a xeverse or channel-shaped structure formation ts provided by adjoining compartment walls, and also by walls of knife stalls 16 spaced from ad- Jacent peripheral side wall [2, all being braced by the walls of passageway [8, thereby' substantially reinforcing the construction of tray lfl, as is clear from Figs. 3 and 4.

The practical operation for using tray IO will now be apparent. Assuming that the depth of said compartments |3, M and IS is made such as to accommodate the height of a stack of from eight to twelve flat-Ware utensils, such as spoons M or teaspoons T or forks F, in a nestewd position, and stalls IE each formed to accommodate four or six knives K in said upstanding fanned relation, each of said compartments and stalls may be fllled with its respective utensils, the tray IO, covered if desired with a transparent or other fitted cover (not shown) which may engage in the set back rabbet portion 12a in the well understood manner, may be placed in a drawer or other convenient storage place. Flat-Ware units M, T and F can be selectively removed in any desired number by simply reaching with the thumb and index finger into passageway 18 to straddle any selected Stack of part thereof. Likewise, by similar reaching with the index finger and thumb into passageway [8 and under supported knives K, the latter may also be removed.

A novel feature of the improved construction of tray IO is the trapezium shaped mid portion thereof flanked by right trapezium shaped Alrnife stalls IB, said midportion having compartments [3, ll and l'arranged in a `fiare, that is fan-like relation diverging at instrument receiving ends thereof while said knife stalls 16 having 'openended slits H, extension slits ilu, 'ledges 'l'c and cradles ld are constructed and arranged to 'support knives K in reverse fan-like relation dverg'- ing at the knife handle ends thereof to form an attractive, neat display and storage receptacle of relatively minimum dimensions in which the table-Ware units are easily accessible yet utilizing substantially all available space, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an improved cutlery receptacle tray construction whereby the several objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be'made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus describd my invention, I claim as new'and desir to secure by Letters Patent:

'1- A table-Ware tray comprisms a One-.piece molded plastic structure of substantially uniform wall thickness throughout, a rectangular top wall for said structure lying wholly in one plane, a peripheral side wall extending down from said top wall terminating in a free edge forming base supporting means, said top wall having a midportion fiank'ed by a pair of stalls each for supporting opposite ends of a plurality of knives in spaced apart edgewise upright position. elongated sunken compartments depressed down from said top wall midportion between said stalls, said compartments being shaped and sized to receive nested stacks of table-Ware and disposed so that handle portion ends of the table-Ware extend in a direction toward a front side of the tray and instrument portion ends in a direction toward a rear side thereof, bottom walls of said compartments being curved to conform to the contour of the table-Ware, said top wall being depressed to provide a transverse passage interconnecting said compartments and said stalls, said stalls having front and rear Vertical walls, said top wall ad-jacent the rear Vertical wall of each stall being formed with open-ended slits extending down from said top wall plane, said rear Vertical wall each having depth extension slits extending in angular relation to and communicating with said open-ended slits, aligned spaced apart edges terminating said extension slits, said front Vertical walls lof said stalls being formed with ledges spaced below said top wall plane, said ledges having cradles for positioning knife handles in a fanned out spaced relation, and said open-ended slits and depth extension slits being sized and shaped to each receive a knife blade for support on each of said 'aligned edges.

2. table-:Ware tray comprising a one-piece molded plastic structure of Substantially uniform wall thiclrness throughout, a rectangular top wall of said structure lying wholly in one plane, a peripheral side wall extending down from said top Wall terminating in a free edge forming base supporting means, said top wall having a midpo'rtion flanked by a pair of stalls each for supporting opposite ends of aplurality of knives in spaced apart edgewise upright position, elongated sunken compartments depressed down from said top wall miPDIji-io'n between said stalls, said compartments being shaped and sized to receive 'nested stacls of table-Ware and disposed so thathandle'portion ends of the table-Ware extend in a. direction toward a front side of the tray and instrument portion ends in a direction toward a rear side thereof, bottom walls of said compartments being curved to conform to the contour of the table-Ware, said 'top wall being depressed to provide a transverse passage interconnecting said compartments and said stalls, means formed in opposite front and rear vertical walls of each of said stalls for supporting said knives in a fanned out position with respect to said tray rear side at a substantially uniform level with respect to said top wall plane, said top Wall midportion being of trapezium shape and said compartments thereof being arranged in fiared fan-like relation diverging in the direction of instrument receiving ends, thereof, and said stalls being right trapezium shaped with said midportion interfitting therebetween for supporting said knives in said fanned out position in reverse with respect to the flare of said compartments.

3. The table-Ware tray defined in claim 2 in which said knife supporting means at the rear walls of said stalls are formed as open-ended slits extending along said top wall and down from said top Wall plane to provide depth extension slits having aligning edges in said rear vertical walls at right angles to and communicating with said open-ended slits, said open-ended slits and depth extensions being sized and shaped to each receive a knife blade end for support on said aligned edges to extend beyond said plane.

4. The table-Ware tray defined in claim 2 in which said knife supporting means at the front Vertical walls of said stalls have ledges spaced below said top wall plane to serve as individual cradles for positioning handles of said knives in said fanned out position.

5. The table-Ware tray defined in claim 2 including bottom walls for said stalls depressed below the level of said knife supporting means to form storage compartmenispace thereunder.

6. The table-Ware tray defined in claim 2 in which said stalls each have a Vertical side wall spaced in parallel relation adjacent said peripheral side wall to form therewith channelshaped stifiening structures extending along opposite sides of the tray.

HARRY C. GESSLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: o

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 135,186 Miller Mar. 9, 1943 1,420,004 Weide June 20, 1922 1,701,062 Burnham Feb. 5, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 837,386 France Nov. 12, 1938 

